A Friday Off

1. New specs. 2. Quiet time on the patio. 3. Big breakfast outside. 4. Kids playing a game. 5. Trey in the bookstore. 6. Danica in the bookstore. 7. Movie time. 8. New Harry Potter Cookbook. 9. Homemade fudge from the cookbook.

Impromptu Photoshoot

My daughter and I had an impromptu photoshoot at the Florida Everglades this evening at sunset. She has a great camera and a big talent for photography but the photos posted here are from my iPhone. She got to drive me there with her new permit which she was excited about. All-in-all it was a great mother-daughter time.

Things I am Pinterested in Lately

Mamanellie's Pinterest

DIY & Crafts

Feather Tee DIY (made one of my own!)
Step-by-Step:
http://sincerelykinsey.blogspot.com/2012/10/feather-tee-diy-inspiration.html


Hand-Sewn Journals
Step-by-step:
http://www.marthastewart.com/945504/hand-sewn-journals/@center/276976/memorykeeping-crafts


Upcycle Unwanted Jeans
Step-by Step:
http://www.thelittlegiggler.com/2012/05/pink-skinny-jeans-re-fashion.html


Specialty Carved FrameStep-by-Step:
http://froufrugal.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-emboss-wood-part-1-piping-style.html

Lovely Outfits

Comfy and cute!


Perfect for Fall.


Florida living kinda style.


LOVE a skirt with pockets!

Hair!

Love the long waves and flower crown. Perfect!


Love the hair. LOVE the glasses!


Perfect waves with bangs.


Super cute up do.

Upcycled Skirt

I just recently upcycled a skirt from one of my husbands old flannel button up shirts. I love how it turned out. The scalloped bottom is such a cute feature. Here are the easy, simple steps.

1. Lay the shirt flat smoothing to remove all wrinkles.


2. Cut the shirt horizontally from one armpit to the other.


3. Fold under where you cut to create the space for the elastic and iron to keep in place.


4. Sew the piece you folded leaving at least a two inch opening to feed the elastic.


5. Feed the elastic through and sew together. [I attach a safety pin on one end to help feed it through.]


6. See two inch gap where you fed the elastic through.

DONE! Now you have a cute stylish skirt that is pretty much FREE!

Permitted to Drive

It's official!  She is now "permitted" to drive.  Well, technically, she has to drive with a licensed adult in the car for now.  I have to be honest, I am quite excited for her but am also very nervous as my first child hits the roads.

I learned to drive on back country roads in Mississippi.  My poor children have to learn to drive in crazy south Florida.  We consistently "win" the '#1 for road rage in the U.S.' award each year.  God help us!

A Mother's Prayer

I am a mother that prays fervently for my children and for my parenting. This is a perfect prayer to memorize for that purpose.

A New View

Everyone in our family is quite blind and wears contacts except for my husband who had the lasik surgery done a couple of years ago.  Trey was the only one left wearing glasses 100% of the time.  He has been asking to get contacts now for over a year.  Now that he's in middle school, we thought we'd give it a shot.  It's been a week and so far, so good.  Now we just get to see more of those beautiful blue eyes!

Cool Nights Ahead

South Florida in the winter is the ideal place to be. It's perfect cool and comfortable nights. The cool nights do tend to come later in the year so I thought I would go ahead get prepared. I've always wanted to put up "cafe" lights in my back yard. My husband came into possession of a bunch of outdoor lights for free this past week so it became the perfect opportunity. I completed half the yard tonight and am super exited about it! The other half will come later. Tonight is sushi dinner outside. Tomorrow is a seafood boil. Let the cool nights begin!

Oh How I've Missed Thee

As I stated in a previous post, the craziness of a new the school schedule was upon me. Well, now I'm two months in and so far so good but the schedule is very right. This leaves little room for anything else. I used to go to the beach multiple times per week and go paddleboarding at least once per week but haven't done either in over two months. I was jonesing hard. Today I finally went and it was definitely the missing link I'd been feeling. I got up early and went to the beach in order to get a parking spot. I did a short paddle at the beach but it was really choppy. Then I laid on the beach for a while totally losing track of time, thus getting a parking ticket. Oh, well. I left the beach with ticket in hand and headed north to meet my brother for an intercoastal paddle.

The beach and paddleboarding is my stress reliever; my happy place. It was five hours of pure amazing!